The country attributes it to inaccurate maps, but there may be other factors By Kate Seamons, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 6, 2013 5:37 AM CDT

(Newser) – As far as geological mysteries go, it's an intriguing one: For decades, China has reported being home to 50,000 rivers of at least about 40 square miles. But the country's three-year census of its water—a first-of-its-kind effort involving 800,000 surveyors and released last week—revealed a drastically different count. As of 2011, just 22,909, reports the Verge, which asks the million-dollar question: Why did 27,000 rivers vanish? The answer is an easy one, a census director tells the South China Morning Post: That 50,000 figure was arrived at using topographical maps as many as 60 years old, which were incomplete.

The Post cited climate change and water and soil loss as well, but the Verge reports that China itself may have had a heavier hand in the decrease. It spoke with Ma Jun, the director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing, who agreed that the answers offered by the government likely played a role; but he cited pollution and overpopulation as key factors. As the Verge explains, the destruction caused by flooding in the 1960s led the country to erect dams and reservoirs that reined in flooding but messed with the ecological system, causing rivers to go dry. Add in a more than fivefold surge in water use by a booming population in about the same period, along with pollution that only compounds the problem: It's "destroying the limited clean resources we have," Ma said.

deuem

Sky, Our local river is still there. OMG I was worried. Most all of these rivers are used for human waste and rainfall run off. I know it sounds bad but I have never seen one that stinks! No, I would not drink it. Just recently they have started to build a secondary line for Sewage to go to a plant.

This is now going on all over the place. Starting about 20 years ago all new buildings were forced by law ( a good one ) to have both sewage and rain water sewage lines split. The funny part is that they both lead to the same place. But there was 2. Now with money in hand, they are slowly going back to every street and putting in sewage lines to the raw sewage pipes and leaving the rain water to the river.

Our street has been a mess now for over a year as they attemp to connect everyone. Our streets are all concrete so what a mess it makes, Dust everywhere for a year. The local sewage plant has now been under construction for more than a year. When it is done, the final legs will be diverted from the river to the plant. Just like they do in any US city.

It is also a possibility that many villages capped the river source and used it for local water. That happens also. Our local supply works that way. Only the excess water not needed for humans is then passed to the sewage and then to the river. So the sewage is using the best drinking water around. Maybe that is why it does not smell bad.Deuem

sky otter

The possibility of global or national water shortages has emerged as an investment theme

in recent years, with exchange-traded funds including the PowerShares Water Resources Portfolio (PHO) and Guggenheim S&P Global Water Index (CGW) allowing anyone to play the sector.

The website 24/7 Wall St. took a look at the states running out of water, using as a starting point data from the U.S. Drought Monitor, produced in partnership by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the USDA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A clouded outlookMuch of the midsection of the United States is experiencing a drought. More than half of the Lower 48 states recently had abnormally dry conditions that qualified as a moderate drought or worse.

More than 80% of seven states were in severe drought, characterized by crop or pasture loss, water shortages and water restrictions. Depending on whether the hardest-hit regions see significant precipitation, crop yields could continue to fall and drought conditions could persist for months.

When the drought began in 2012, conditions were most serious in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, said Brad Rippey, a meteorologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA said that 59% of the nation's rangeland and pastureland was in poor or very poor condition that summer due to drought, causing corn and hay harvests to be depleted. The ensuing shortage of livestock feed forced some ranchers to destroy cattle, which drove up beef prices.

By late 2012, drought conditions were spreading westward, Rippey said, to Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma, the drought's current epicenter.

Relatively large areas in the worst-off states are experiencing what the USDA defines as "exceptional drought," marked by "exceptional and widespread crop/pasture losses (and) shortages of water in reservoirs, streams and wells creating water emergencies."

The last time the United States saw a drought close to this level of severity was in the 1980s, Rippey said. But even compared with that drought, the current conditions may be worse. "You really need to go back to the 1950s to find a drought that lasted and occupied at least as much territory," Rippey said.

The possibility of global or national water shortages has emerged as an investment theme in recent years, with exchange-traded funds including the PowerShares Water Resources Portfolio (PHO) and Guggenheim S&P Global Water Index (CGW) allowing anyone to play the sector.

The website 24/7 Wall St. took a look at the states running out of water, using as a starting point data from the U.S. Drought Monitor, produced in partnership by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the USDA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read through the slide show for a closer look at five states running out of water.

For two mores state running out of water, and a full report, go to 24/7 Wall St.

Although no stranger to this concept of "Water War's" or what have you, but hey after reading this post I got thinking as to why so much corp interest is involved in water and such and scratched my chin whilst gazing into the crystal ball

Obviously water is another commodity and thee most important one !

But hey what if the corporate interest's are looking at a future tense of earth and trying to find means to know where it will abate to after a global calamity?

sky otter

well it stinks that this is under old jesse cause my respect for him is totally gone..sigh..

but water is worth more than gold..gold doesn't grow anything but greedy morons

Dwindling Great Lakes squeeze shipping industryIn December, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron hit record lows, followed by Lake Superior which is the largest freshwater lake in the world. They all remain below their historical averages. NBC's Anne Thompson reports. By Amber Payne, Producer, NBC News

TOLEDO, Ohio -- It’s the 14th straight year of low water levels for the $34 billion shipping industry that relies on the Great Lakes.

And for ships like the Mesabi Miner, that comes at a great cost.

On a recent Saturday the vessel drifted through the Detroit River and docked in Toledo, where the crew began the eight-hour process of unloading 66,000 tons of iron ore, the rounded clay-colored pellets that eventually take shape as steel in cars and refrigerators.

But the Mesabi Miner wasn't carrying a full load because water levels in the Great Lakes are just too low. On her journey from Duluth, Minn., to Lake Erie, she left 8,000 tons of iron ore behind.

That amounts to a day's work for an iron ore mine. It’s enough to make 8,000 automobiles, and keep a big auto plant going for two weeks.

"Steel is what drives our economy," said Glen Nekvasil, Vice President of the Lake Carriers' Association. "And most of the steel in the country is still made in the Great Lakes basin."

This is an industry where the difference between success and failure is measured in inches.

"One inch of reduced draft can cost 270 tons of cargo," said Nekvasil. "And this ship lost about 2.5 feet of draft today."

About 85 percent of the Great Lakes shipping trade is iron ore, coal, and limestone for construction. The rest is primarily salt, cement, grain, and oil. And according to the LCA, the Great Lakes shipping system saves customers $3.6 billion annually compared to the other modes of transportation.

Despite the savings on fuel, lighter loads and fewer trips ultimately mean these costs will filter down to the consumer.

Mark Barker and his family have run the Interlake Steamship Company for 25 years and he is concerned about the domino effect.

"Less tons but we still have the same operating cost. So if you carry less tons, we have less revenue, equal cost. Our bottom line gets squeezed," said Barker.

Barker plans to carry fewer tons but take more trips to make up for the loss.

In January, Lake Michigan and Huron hit record lows, followed by Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world. Now all three lakes remain well below their historical averages. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, however, are both right around their long-term average right now.

Evaporation outpaces precipitation

Interlake's Captain Paul Franks says the toughest part of navigating a massive vessel is the bottle neck in the St. Mary’s River, which connects Lake Superior to both Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

"On a good day I've probably got about 2.5 to 3 feet underneath me," he explained. "On a not-so-good day, sometimes as low as 9 inches and it's a real slow methodical process to not run aground and to safely just keep transiting."

NOAA hydrologist Drew Gronewold said there has not been enough rain and snow over the lakes in the winter coupled with an increase in evaporation fueled by warmer water temperatures.

"We're in a period where it's a stand-off between precipitation and evaporation," said Gronewold. "And evaporation is having a much more significant impact on the system, and particularly the changes, than it used to."

NOAA is also studying whether this could impact fish habitats and coastal wetlands that may be sensitive to long term changes in the water levels.

Hydrologist Andrew Gronewald explains the changing dynamics of the Great Lakes and what that can mean for surrounding ecosystems.Hoping for higher water

In St. Joseph, Mich., Russ Clark is in his 27th year running Sea Hawk fishing charters. When he put his boat in the water at his normal location earlier this season, the bow was touching the bottom. Recently the water level has been better due to rain, but Clark fears this is temporary.

"This is how narrow the channel is," he said pointing west. "Twenty-five feet over and you're gonna be aground."

There are places he just can't take his clients anymore and Clark says that many of the bigger boats are unable to enter the water this season for fear of getting stuck.

"I think we're all just hoping and confident that the water levels come back," he said.

he interviewed a lady who explained how the bottled water effects a human body. first, the fluoridation creates an environment in the water, that when paired with the chemicals in the plastic bottle, cause things like low fertility rates in males and screws up babies, invitro.

when the plastic bottle is subjected to direct sunshine or heat for more than a few minutes, it begins to create formaldehyde as a byproduct of the breakdown of the plastic bonds. i have no idea how this might play into the rest of the biological issues.

was also mentioned that they've found radiation and lithium in the bottled water.

she also claimed that our politicians and government were also secretly giving our water, pumped from the underground acquifers that feed the lakes, like the great lakes and lake mead, to china, who were using it to restore their own water table and also making the plastic bottles to bottle it, and selling it back to us for 4 dollars a bottle.

then the bottles become like weaponized sterilization when finally sold to us at the store. she says it's a plot to 1) increase the power and influence of communism via china, on the world and 2) destroy our country by taking our best water and making us drink recycled toilet water.

also, there are corporations involved both stateside and abroad, who are using loopholes in the laws, to basically steal the water.

i say we all buy those machines that take water out of the air, filter it, and provide you with a nice glass of clean drinking water. of course, the minerals are missing, which means we'd need to supplement those, unfortunately

without the acquifers flow refreshing the water, rivers, creeks and ponds, become stagnant, killing all the life in them.

she also claimed that our politicians and government were also secretly giving our water, pumped from the underground acquifers that feed the lakes, like the great lakes and lake mead, to china, who were using it to restore their own water table and also making the plastic bottles to bottle it, and selling it back to us for 4 dollars a bottle.

I am not quoting you Undo, but what that person said!

Was there any mention of the Transport Logistics behind this ?

I would imagine that if there was a scant hint of truth to this that any country would set-up Desal plants before looking into transporting water for a large scale project like that. And if China made Desal Plant's it could possibly be assumed that they would not be ripped off AS much from a state run company than what it would cost a western country in term's of how much the man get's paid in creaming the project cost

they are called sprag bags or something like that.her name is lorainne moray. i am not sure on the spelling. trying to find her. she has a pretty impressive resume' based on the intro they gave her in the show. she was an uranium specialist at lawrence livermoore national nuclear laboratory, known internationally as an expert on radiation and public health.

she says she has found uranium in our drinking water, along with lithium. "Lithium is used for people with bipolar disorder or manic depressant. it slows down and calms the brain. it makes the person docile."

then she talks about uranium effecting estrogen and testosterone and being a hormone disrupter. she also says the female population is expanding and the male population is shrinking (in the usa). then jesse says "we're being neutered."

A flexible barge is a fabric barge (non-rigid) for the transportation of bulk fresh water or other liquid bulk items (i.e. chemicals, oil, etc.).

One such barge is called the Dracone Barge invented in 1956 and another similar type is called the Spragg Bag invented in the 1980s.

Terry Spragg of Manhattan Beach, California, builds flexible fabric barges for the transportation of bulk fresh water and is the reason why his product is referred to as the "Spragg Bag." In the 1970s Spragg was a promoter of icebergs as a large source of fresh water, but soon realized this was impractical. He then put his skills into developing the waterbag technology starting in the 1980s. Spragg has worked on and perfected this over the last twenty years with his associates. The first field test of his waterbag was in December 1990. The waterbag was 75 meters long (245 feet) and it contained approximately 3,000 cubic metres (790,000 US gal) of fresh water. It was towed from the Port Angeles harbor in the state of Washington. Another test was done in 1996 with a 100-mile (160 km) voyage from Port Angeles to Seattle, Washington. Spragg says that his next goal is to run another test voyage demonstration between Northern and Southern California and a demonstration of the waterbag technology in the Middle East as well as around the world. There are various reasons why it has been difficult to gain support for demonstrating the viability of waterbag technology in California and around the world. Spragg claims when two waterbags pass underneath the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time in history the media will let the whole world know about it. A novel, Water, War, and Peace, has been completed that details the solutions waterbag technology offers to the complex political problems surrounding water issues throughout the Middle East, the United States, and the world.